NG Kit Car

Positioning & Fitting the Body

Before fitting the body, rubber strips are glued onto the chassis. For details of this and the fixing hole positions, see Chassis Particulars and Chassis Diagrams.

I found that more clearance was needed around one part of the gearbox bell housing. The protrusion on the right hand side of later gearboxes (near the clutch lever) seems to foul the inside of the GRP transmission tunnel (I had already removed some material when photo 2 was taken). To provide a working clearance it was necessary to sand a little thickness from the body, taking care not to make the GRP too thin (photo 3). I also ground a few mm from the gearbox casing which had more effect on the clearance (photo 4). The thickness of the casing at this point is not too critical. The result is a much more acceptable clearance between the body and the gearbox housing (photo 5).

The body tub was then carefully positioned on the chassis so as to produce, as near as possible, the same overhang each side. I took 5 measurements along each side to determine the best AVERAGE central position but some measurements differed by a few mm either way. It is perhaps worth realising here that a difference of, say, 2mm means only 1mm off centre - which is hardly worth worrying about! Fore and aft position was largely determined by the raised chassis section above the rear axle which allowed only minimal movement.

Once positioned, most of the body fixing holes could be drilled from underneath through the chassis (having supported it on axle stands for greater clearance). I started with the inner holes, bolting each up lightly and re-checking the body position. The only holes I could not drill in this way were two above the rear axle (which also secure the suspension bump stops) as they have limited access. These were marked through with the OHP pen for drilling later. With the body removed, it was easy to drill and cut the large number of holes marked with the body in place on the chassis (photo 6).